“Riddick” bonds any loose connective tissues found in “Pitch Black” , and the film is not dull. Rather, it is enjoyable and sci-fytastically Dahl-ightful. ~ Beau Behan

In 2000, the creation of the sci-fi franchise ‘Riddick Series’ was ushered in by its premiere installment, “Pitch Black”, when the character of a convicted murderer and antihero, Richard B. Riddick (Vin Diesel) was introduced. Riddic is from an intergalactic planet called Furya, and despite his massive muscular size, he is physically agile, shrewd, and a highly skilled survivalist. His eyes reflect his most distinct trait because they allow him to see clearly in the dark, even in pitch black. To protect them from the sensitivity of light, he wears tinted goggles.

“The Chronicles of Riddick” is the sequel, and this 2004 mega-box office failure focused more on the history of Riddick and the denizens of Furya. It shows how Riddick has defeated the Lord Marshal, czar of the religious army of Necromongers—the invaders of Furya. Being victorious, Riddick inherits the control and the helm of the Necromonger as the new Lord Marshal.

“Riddick”, the third installment, pays homage to the well-spirited machismo of Richard B. Riddick that many sci-fi fans admired in “Pitch Black”. The screenplay’s first act is a depiction of Riddick’s defining moments as the extreme survivalist while he is stranded in this arid place like that desert planet in the 1984 movie, “Dune”. Riddick calls it “Not Furya”. With that no-nonsense testosterone-fuelled adrenalin rush popularized by “Rambo”, he combats hybrid alien creatures, including zebra-dingo land animals, and giant amphibious scorpions that exhibit the dexterity of the rattle snake, cobra. In the midst of all of these spine-chilling throes, the film shows flashbacks to Riddick’s banishment as a deposed emperor of Necromongers.

While getting acclimated to his new surroundings, Riddick has an inkling that the worst is yet to come due to the cumulonimbus clouds in the sky. A rainstorm is coming, and it will awaken the astronomical population of these grotesque cobra-scorpions. He must now find a way to escape this killer storm. While traversing the path, he stumbles upon a mercenary base, and decides to beam a signal of his whereabouts into the outer space.

As he has suspected, his enemies will come searching for him, and in fact, there are two groups who have just arrived: bounty hunters led by Santana (Jordi Mollà), and the other one, mercenaries led by Boss Johns (Matt Nable), whose son (William J. Johns) was with Riddick when their starship crash landed as seen in “Pitch Black”. The screenplay also introduces Dahl played by the “Battlestar Galactica” star Katee Sackhoff , as Boss’ expert marksman and lieutenant. She could easily be the epitome of a female Riddick or a female Rambo with the killer instinct of Alice in Resident Evil. Dahl makes the film, “Riddick”, Dahl-ightful. She rattles the cage with acerbically charming and catchy phrases.

What is darkness to “Pitch Black” is the rainstorm to “Riddick”. The cinematography is undeniably well-done to afford us such lucidness to experience the escalating gravity of the film’s epic battle. Like “Pitch Black”, “Riddick” does not showcase a lot of CGI. Its gravitas reverberate more on the characterization of the main protagonist, and Vin Diesel’s performance really makes Riddick a likeable unconscionable being. However, there are times when I do find his lines sounding non-pellucid that his discourses with other actors, his facial expressions and body language, or motion pictures then become an aid to contextual comprehension. Furthermore, the film is a tad too long.

In the grand schema of the screenplay, “Riddick” bonds any loose connective tissues found in “Pitch Black” , and the film is not dull. Rather, it is enjoyable and sci-fytastically Dahl-ightful.